Three games left and three wins needed – that is the stark assessment of Newport County’s plight by manager Jimmy Dack.

The Exiles now find themselves in a desperate battle to ensure that their excellent campaign does not come off the rails and see them agonisingly miss out on a League Two play-off spot.

After hovering in the top seven for much of the campaign, recent poor form has seen Dack’s men drop to ninth, three points now off Plymouth in that final play-off position.

It has been three defeats on the bounce at just the wrong time that has done the damage, with County succumbing to Exeter and Bury before losing out 2-0 at Southend last time out on Tuesday.

It has all been a heavy blow to Newport’s promotion hopes but with three games remaining, starting at home to Dagenham & Redbridge at Rodney Parade tomorrow (3pm), bullish Dack insists his men are not out of the hunt just yet even if, as he believes, it is going to take perfection from here on in to ensure their season is extended.

“It’s not over,” said Dack.

“We’ve still got three games to go and we probably need three wins but we’ve got two home games and one away.

“We said a few home truths in the dressing room and there was a few boys hurting from the loss at Southend.

“But we’ve put ourselves in a great position and we don’t want to let it slip that easily.

“It’s not through the want of trying because they’re trying hard, but for the minute it’s just not happening for whatever reason.”

Striker Miles Storey, who is on loan at Newport from Swindon, agrees with Dack’s assessment of the enormity of County’s current situation.

The 21-year-old has two goals in 15 appearances for County and will be looking to add to that tally against Dagenham, a game he has branded the Exiles biggest and most important of the season.

“We know what we need to do. We need maximum points,” said Storey.

“We could get maximum points and get nowhere near it still but anything can happen in this league.

“I think there’s enough quality in the team that if we turn it on and get some momentum going again there’s no reason why we can’t get the three wins.

“I can’t really put my finger on it, but we just need to get back to how we were.